As time evolves, the trend for electronic devices has become to provide devices with characteristics such as small, light weighted and “mobile”. To this end, peripheral storage devices are also required to possess the above features, especially CD (compact disc) player or slim-type CD player which are standard equipment for electronic devices such as computers. The main difference between a traditional CD player and a slim-type CD player is that the latter has a smaller volume and weight and thus is more suitable for miniaturized electronic devices such as notebook computers. The slim-type CD player is more in line with the new generation product trend, such that it is gradually superseding the tradition CD player.
A common peripheral storage device is shown in FIG. 7, for example of a slim-type CD player 10 comprising a mount 101 with top cover 101a and bottom cover 101b to form a space when the top cover 101a and bottom cover 101b are assembled to the mount 101. Within the space, a tray 103 is provided comprising a core 103a, a read/write head 103b connected to the core 103a and for reading from or writing to a CD, and a principal-axis motor 103c for rotating the CD.
A protective mechanism is normally formed on the core 103a to protect the read/write head 103b, the principal-axis motor 103c and other elements in the core 103a from exposure to the environment and ensure their proper operation. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a cover 105 is disposed on the core 103a. The cover 105 is a thin metal sheet (about 0.3 mm thick) with a bent extension 105a, and the cover 105 is installed on the core 103a by stretching the extension 105a from a side of the core 103a to a lower surface of the core 103a for fixation. Since the slim-type CD player is small in size, clearance between the cover 105 and the read/write head 103b is only 0.7 mm to 0.8 mm vertically.
However, since the above fixing mechanism is operated only by hooking the extension 105a of the cover 105 to the core 103a, the very thin cover 105 may easily be deformed during transportation or manufacturing processes and causes installation gaps. As shown in the circle of FIG. 9, a gap e is formed between the extension 105a and the cover 103a. Since the slim-type CD player is featured by its small size, and the clearance (sum of gap d and gap e in FIG. 9) between the extension 105a of the cover 105 and the read/write head 103b is small; when there is a gap e, the gap d must be consequently reduced.
Besides formation of the installation gap e, the above fixing mechanism also leads to decrease in the gap d making the read/write head 103b when moving back and forth interfere with the cover 105 and its extension 105a. Moreover, this conventional fixing mechanism of hooking the extension 105a of the cover 105 to the core 103a only provides single-direction fixation i.e. vertical fixation. During the processes of manufacture, transportation or other conditions that cause horizontal displacement, the fixation is not strongly secured and may be damaged in case of the cover 105 being deformed.
To solve the disadvantages of the above fixing mechanism, a scheme of binding the cover and the core with adhesive tapes is proposed to enhance the fixation in-between. However, such a scheme consumes a huge amount of tapes making the manufacturing costs increased, and an extra procedure for sticking the tapes increases the manufacturing time and also the manufacturing and installation costs. Moreover, if the cover is deformed during the manufacturing processes, the tapes attached to the cover would become uneven and may fall off due to heating in the manufacturing, testing and operating stages. As a result, the fixation effect can not be enhanced, and even worse, unpredictable damage would be caused to the slim-type CD player when the tapes fall onto different parts or elements in the mount.
FIGS. 10 and 11 demonstrate another type of fixing mechanism, wherein on the core 103a′ there are formed a step part 103d′ and a threaded hole 103e′, and a corresponding threaded hole 105b′ is formed on the extension 105a′ of the cover 105′. The extension 105a′ is adapted to match the step part 103d′, and a screw 107′ is used to screw the threaded holes 103e′, 105b′ to connect the core 103a′ and the cover 105′ together. This solves the foregoing problems of forming the installation gap and falling of the adhesive tapes.
Nevertheless, in the use of the above fixing mechanism in FIGS. 10 and 11, a gap e′ (FIG. 11) would be formed between the extension 105a′ of the cover 105′ and the read/write head 103b′ due to the certain height of the screw 107′. As a result, the gap d′ must be correspondingly reduced in the case of a limited space in the slim-type CD player, leading to the same problem of interference between the extension 105a′ and the read/write head 103b′ as described above.
Besides the interference problem, an installation tool is required for the screwing operation in the use of the fixing mechanism in FIGS. 10 and 11. This not only increases the installation time and costs, but also raises the material costs of screws.
Therefore, the problem to be solved herein is to provide a fixing mechanism for use in a peripheral storage device, which can eliminate the foregoing drawbacks and thereby allows convenient installation and usage without significantly increasing the installation and manufacturing costs.